Several years ago ...

[YaSO]

Several years ago, when I was in college, I was sitting at some coffee shop and talking to a friend of mine. Somehow we started talking about personal finance and I asked "If you want to make money, how far should I go as far as the education is concerned?" He got his master degree in EE. According to him, (if you finance pretty wisely) it's better to start working right after you get a BA/BS degree. And putting money in 401k, Roth, Mutual funds, etc. According to his calculation, BA/BS degree people can accumulate more money in a long run. Any comment? Anyone?

[philipwhiteold]

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I'm playing a bit of catch up in responding to posts.

I think in the long run the more education you have the better opportunities you will have for advancement. Where my brother works your friend might not have gotten through the screening phase if he didnt have a masters degree.

[New Merchant]

My two pence worth

In the UK, a degree is currently the standard benchmark needed to break into the general business workplace. If you work in IT the more quals you have the better.
In an average company, progression generally comes to the individuals ability, output and a bit of luck.

If you truly want to make alot of money, working for yourself is the way forward and you don't always need a Msc for that.

[mnphysicist]

For an EE it makes sense, subject to the economic cycles. Eg, if you have a BS/BA at the high cycle or just prior to, go for the job. You may well be able to put aside $200K or so before the market takes a dive, then go back for the MSEE or PHD. Eg new hires with a BSEE at the high cycle may start at 100K, vs at the low cycle may be only at 50K if they can even find work. For other majors, there probably a lot less fluctuation.

Ron